European Forum on Employment & Disability
On Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October 2003 around 700 delegates form around Europe at the Méridien Montparnasse Hotel in Paris. The event, organised by the French Government organisation for disability and employment issues, l'Agefiph, had a thought provoking title; "Employees with disabilities: an asset to the company?

Wilf Holt and I attended on behalf of Amicus and the Disability Champions project. Bearing in mind that the majority of delegates were managers and HR people this was going to be an interesting event. The conference was very slick and well coordinated in terms of audio/visual presentation, simultaneous translation and accessibility in general. The format was four round table discussions with panel members, chaired by journalist Emmanuelle Bastide, followed by questions and comments from the floor.

Concluding the conference Emmanuelle asked each panel member what they as the future for disabled workers in the EU, I have deliberately omitted the names/organisations from the list:-

  • More young people
  • Better qualifications
  • Improved retention rates
  • A better future with TU involvement
  • Improve societies knowledge and understanding
  • Change in UK culture
  • Companies more prepared to address issues
  • Develop legislation
  • Training is the key
  • A second chance for kids who do not achieve
  • Removing the fear factor in self identification
  • More skills

Look at these statements and think of them against the aims and objectives of both Amicus and the Disability Champions@Work project and the 10 golden rules. There is an old saying that if there were no such thing as trade unions employers would have to invent them; if Amicus had not invented Disability Champions… it all fits beautifully.

Overall an extremely worth while conference. Most of the speakers were there on a mission to say just how good their companies are and how they are committed to social justice. Almost all of them did little to convince me that they were not just concerned with saving money and keeping out of the courts, but if that is what it takes to progress our agenda then clearly things are working. The unfortunate thing is, I guess, that the worst employers would simply not have sent delegates so in some respects people were preaching to a mixture of the converted and those who knew they had to convert.

Click Here to read the full report.

Dave Parr